There’s a major bill moving through Congress called the Protect College Sports Act. It passed the Senate in September, and to become law it still has to pass the House before this Congress ends in January. So what would it mean for running? Here are the biggest impacts:
Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash
5 in 5. Every athlete gets 5 years of eligibility over a 5 year period, starting at full-time college enrollment or the academic year after they turn 19, whichever comes first. No more redshirts. The NCAA already adopted this rule for Division I, so it applies whether or not the bill passes. The bill would make the rule harder to challenge in court and extend it to Division II. The biggest change is for international athletes, some of whom have recently competed in college into their mid-to-late 20s. Under the new rule, most of those athletes are no longer be eligible. The clock pauses for pregnancy, religious missions, and military service, and the NCAA can add other exceptions.
Big schools can’t shrink Olympic sports. Schools with more than $50 million in athletic revenue would have to keep the same total number of roster spots and scholarships in non-revenue sports as they had in 2024–25. That lasts four years for schools earning $50–80 million and nine years for schools earning more. Schools could still move spots between sports, though, so track and cross country aren’t individually guaranteed.
More money for Olympic sport athletes. Schools could spend extra money above the revenue-sharing cap to keep their current athletes, and up to $5 million more if they pay athletes in Olympic and other non-revenue sports.
One free transfer. Athletes get one transfer without losing eligibility, plus more if their head coach leaves, their sport is cut, they’re starting grad school, or they were harassed by someone connected to the school. Otherwise, a second transfer means sitting out a year.
A ban on former professionals returning. The bill doesn’t define what a professional athlete is, which matters in running, where the line between a shoe deal and a pro contract can be blurry. It does say prize money and NIL deals don’t count. Either way, runners have less reason to return to college after going pro than athletes in higher-revenue sports.
